


A Fox's Secret

by TW14



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Eventual WildeHopps, F/M, High School Drama, somewhat superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-02-14 11:44:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13007088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TW14/pseuds/TW14
Summary: Classic Nick and Judy in the same school as each other. Only this time with a twist. Find out what happens when a fight causes Nick to change school and just so happens to end up in the same one as a certain bunny. Nick isn't like any teen though, he hides a secret that he is sure no one believes.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a new story idea I have had for a while. One of the more common scenarios for AU's in most fandoms. "What would happen if character A and character B went to the same school?". I haven't read too many stories about this idea but there some amazing ones out there like "Old Arrangements" by Zanrok and "Boys like you" by Those Other Things.
> 
> While the idea of Nick and Judy is good by itself, I wanted to add some type of twist, and that is where this story came from.
> 
> First a bit of information:
> 
> Due to my lack of knowledge in the American education system (judging from Stereotypes that is where most of my readers are from), this story will follow the UK educational system. The only details that are important right now are ages. Nick, Judy and everyone else I decide to include are between the ages of 11 and 16 (unless stated otherwise). This gives me the whole of UK's high school ages to work with. Besides this chapter, Nick and Judy will be in Year 10 (Aged 14/15), the last full year of high school.
> 
> In this chapter, Nick is still 14 but he is in Year 9.
> 
> Now that all that information has been dumped on you. Feel free to follow, favorite and Review. You can also PM me if you wish to contact me that way. Also, If anything about how the school works confuses you, leave it in a comment and I will try my best to explain it.

"The City of Zootopia is worse than it looks"

That was Nick Wilde's though every day as he walked to school. If the young teen was to say that life was a struggle, he would be making a massive understatement.

Not only was he a fox, one of the most disrespected and discriminated species. He was different. Different from any other mammal in Zootopia. Different from any other mammal in the entire world.

He knew what made him different. But what he didn't know was how he became different.

There were only two other mammals that knew how special of a kit Nick was. That was his mother and father.

His difference thankfully didn't make any simple actions harder. If anything it was a lifesaver. Little did the fox know, he would have to put his power to use later that day.  
\---------------  
Nick laid down in the grass in the same spot he always did when the school field was open. The trees that hung over the school fence providing enough shade for the fox to sit in and watch every other mammal.

He had his earphone plugged into his phone and playing his music at a low volume. He silently judged every mammal that was on the field, even though he had done it every day since he started going to Savanna High.

It was the start of last week before there would be no more school for six whole weeks. This is something that Nick was very thankful for. There was only so long that he could hide his power and there were a few that made it even harder for him.

These were the group of prey mammals that walked around the field and playground like they owned the place. He had a few encounters with them in the past and he preferred not to think about them.

They had seen him at his lowest and humiliated him. Every chance they get, they mock him for thinking that he could join their tribe.

Nick's ear twitched as he turned and saw the group of prey moving like a pack towards him.

Nick quickly got up to his feet and put his bag over one of his shoulders, not bother to put the other strap on his other shoulder. He went to walk again but stopped when the arm of a hippo was placed against the fence, stopping Nick from walking away

"Where do you think your going dumb fox?" the leader of the pack, a Woodchuck asked as he stepped closer and closer to Nick.

Nick stood strong, living up to his mantra of never letting anyone see that they got to him. "What do you want Bill?" he asked in a calm voice

"Who said you could talk MuzzleBoy?" Bill asked in a harsh tone.

It didn't matter how many times Nick heard the name or thought of the vent behind it, the talking of muzzles was the easiest way to get to him. He chose not to respond. Instead, he chose to stare at Bill as a low growl ran in his throat.

He was so focused on Bill that he didn't hear the chants of "FIGHT! FIGHT!" as more and more mammals watched the stare down, obviously wanting to see some action.

Nick was broken out of his haze as Bill started to talk again and took the final few steps to the fox as he spoke "Well Muz, you hear what they want, let's give it to them"

Bill pulled his arm back and pushed it towards the foxes face.

For Nick, time came to a very real stop. All noise was gone. All movement stopped and everyone seemed like a statue. Except for him. This was Nick's gift.

He couldn't explain how but every time he felt that physical harm was about to be brought to him. Time and everything else stopped. Except for him. Nick could still move and talk freely. He never chose to move too far distances. This is because when everyone else was free to move, it would look like Nick had moved at a fast speed. He didn't want mammals to know so never moved too far. Despite how much he wanted to.

Time didn't stay still for long however. If he tried to keep it still, he would always feel dizzy and sick.

For now, Nick simple ducked out of the way of where the Woodchuck's fist would go and. He felt everything return back to normal. As Bill's paw started to move again, so did Nick, moving to stand behind the Woodchuck.

There was a series of noises from the surrounding mammals as Bill turned to look at Nick again. Nick chose to drop his bag in case he needed to move more quickly.

"So MuzzleBoys got moves," he said with a smirk on his face "It's a shame he never shut's up" he continued as he took a few steps until the two mammals were face to face "Maybe we should put a muzzle back on you"

For Nick, that was his breaking point. Red quickly covered his sight as he looked at the Woodchuck and barred his teeth.

The fox raised his arm in much the same fashion as his opponent did only moments ago. Only Nick had more speed and Bill didn't have Nick's gift.

Nick's fist made contact with Bill's face with enough force to make him take a few steps back. Bill raised his head only to get hit by Nick again, this time causing his nose to bleed.

Bill backed himself up against the fence and held a paw up to his nose. He pulled it back and saw his blood on his paw. He looked up again, only to be face to face with Nick again as the fox growled.

The audience was going crazy over what they were seeing. Catching the attention of every teacher that was outside. As the teachers started to hurry to the crowd, the fight continued.

Bill made an attempt to hit Nick. But with Nick's gift, it was a useless attempt, at most it was a valiant effort.

Nick dodged easily and punched Bill to the side of his rib, causing him to clutch it. Bill started to crouch down and lower his head in an attempt to avoid any more beatings, hoping the fox would accept to show of surrender.

Nick took a step back, his face still blank. Some of the audience had pulled out their phones and started to record the fight.

Bill slowly raised his head and looked at Nick with an expression that was a mix of hope and fear.

Nick ran the short distance between him and Bill and brought his foot up, hitting Bill on the back of the head with it.

"What's going on here?" the deep voice of Mr. Wicks called as he reached the scene. Being one of the sports teachers, Mr. Wicks had ran towards the scene arriving ahead of every other teacher.

The crowd started quietened quickly and made a pathway towards the circle that was created around Bill and Nick

"Nicholas Wilde! what do you think you're doing!" he asked in a raised voice.

It was only know that the red that had clouded Nick's vision started to fade and show him what he had just done.  
\----------------  
Nick now sat outside the head teachers office. His mother and father were in there talking to the head of the school Mr. Hutton about Nick's actions and the consequence that would have to be given.

Nick was almost 100% sure he knew what the consequence would be. But for the time being, he was subjected to thinking over everything and the judgemental looks that they few students passing by would give him.

They weren't judgemental in a bad way. They said that they now respected the fox, it's a shame it was for all the wrong reasons. Even Bill's friends had walked past at some point. They gave him one look each before looking in any direction other than Nick's.

It wasn't long until the door opened and his parents emerged from the door. What Nick had found strange though, was their facial expression. They weren't angry or disappointed, instead they were just blank.

Nick stood from his chair and started walking towards the front of the school. He didn't need to be told his punishment but as he walked down the hallway Mr. Hutton had called out to him "Nicholas..."

"Never call me that again" Nick called back. He hated when people said the full version of his name. The only people he could stand using the name was his parents.

He didn't listen to what the old wolf was saying. The only words he heard were the ones he needed to confirm his suspicion "Permanent Exclusion". His mother and Father gave the wolf a proper goodbye before they started heading in the same direction as Nick.

When they got outside, Nick was already waiting at their car. A silver four doored fox vehicle. It was perfect for the family if they ever needed to travel.

It wasn't until they were inside the car and leaving the school ground that Nick finally spoke.

"I'm sorry," he said in a quiet and weak voice. His voice was very unlike his usual self that one could confuse it for coming from someone else.

There was a heavy silence that was present in the vehicle. Nick had his head lowered, hoping that his parents would forgive him. Marian and John Wilde shared a look, both thinking what the other was and without exchanging words, they agreed to tell Nick the secret they had been keeping.

Marian turned her head to look at her son "It's fine Nick, your father and I have something to tell you that will hopefully lighten your spirits" she said. Always looking at the positives in every situation.

Nick raised his head and made eye contact with his mother. He wore a very confused but thankful look on his face.

"We've been planning on getting you to go somewhere else when you went back to school, we know how much you disliked that one"

"How did you...?" Nick asked even more confused

"Ohhh trust me son," John said as he kept his eyes on the road "You may be good at hiding how you feel to others, but we're parents, and we know everything"

"We were able to get you a spot in a school away from the hassle of the city, we know how it made you feel on edge constantly" Marian spoke in a calm and gentle voice, she knew that Nick didn't like talking about his gift, that's what made it such a delicate subject to talk about "From what I've heard the school is really good and have come out with some of the best GCSE results in recent times"

Nick let out a loud sigh. He was thankful that he was going to be away from the city. Away from people like Bill. "Anythings better than there," Nick said as he nodded his head in the direction of the school.

There was a more comfortable silence in the vehicle. That is until John piped up again "Look at it this way, at least you have an extra week off school, just think, a whole 7 weeks off" he said enthusiastically.

Marian held a paw to her face as she let out a loud breath and Nick smiled brightly as he realized that his father was right. He had more time off than everyone else.


	2. Awkward First Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Feel free to Review, Follow and Favourite. I am also open to PM's if you want to contact me in that way.
> 
> So, this did better than I thought it would. Because of this, I decided to write about school during my time away from it. Just when I think I get a break away from it for a few weeks.
> 
> *Insert mandatory and overused joke here about not being active since last year* Happy New Year everyone!

_"What do you mean you're moving out of the city?!"_  Shouted the deep voice on the over end of Nick's phone.

Nick pulled his phone away from his ear and held it up to the ceiling. The young fox was currently lying on his bed in the now mostly empty house. His bed was the last thing left in his bedroom and there was only a small pawful of other things that needed to be moved to BunnyBurrow.

While it had taken longer than the Wilde family had expected, they were on the final stretch to escaping city life. It may have taken six weeks but they were happy nonetheless.

Nick had been preoccupied with trying to box everything in his room neatly that he had forgotten to call his oldest friend that is until now.

Slowly pulling the phone back down to his ear Nick spoke in a casual voice, he had expected his friend to be annoyed about it "It's exactly what it sounds like Fin"

_"But Why?"_ Finnick had responded in much the same voice, loud and deep.

"Simple reason, got in a fight at school, got excluded from school, none of the other schools in the city accepted me so I have to move closer to a school in BunnyBurrow" Nick stated like it was fact. He was only half lying, he was excluded but he was never denied by any other school instead, the first school he tried to get in had accepted him. He just avoided mentioning why he decided to go to a school over 200 miles away.

_"You don't need school"_ Finnick spoke in a thankfully quieter voice  _"You could sleep in my van and hustle dumb mammals with me all day"_

Nick closed his eyes and shook his head before standing up and checking if his parents were anywhere near before responding calmly "You know that's not the life I want Fin" He sat down on his bed and heard his friend mutter a few words under his breath "I mean sure, hustling was fun and got me that spare pocket money but I want to do something better with my life"

_"Whatever"_ Finnick responded quickly before taking a pause and talking in a calmer voice " _I guess this is goodbye then?_ "

Nick had to hold his breath to not laugh at how overdramatic his friend was being. "No" Nick responded once he trusted himself to talk "You overdramatic Fennec, we can still call each other you know"

There was silence on the other end of the line before a loud " _Whatever"_ before the line was dropped.

Nick chuckled as he pocketed his phone. He heard someone walking up the stairs before walking down the hall to his room.

Nick looked towards his doorway and saw his father standing there with a toolbox in one of his paws. "Ready to take the bed apart?" John asked as he smiled down at his son.

Nick nodded in response and stood up from his bed and got ready to assist his father.

* * *

Judy sat on her bed looking down into her school bag. It was the same one that she had used in her previous years at BunnyBurrow High School as she didn't see the point in getting a new bag every year.

"Ok, one last check," she told herself as she reached into her bag with her paws. "Pencil case, check," she said as she pulled out a small navy blue pencil case. On one end was a picture of a ZPD badge and the other end was plain.

She unzipped one of the two zips and started rummaging through it "Two black pens, Two blue pens, Two pencils, Thirty-centimeter ruler, Fifteen Centimeter ruler, rubber, calculator, compass check" she ran across her list that she had check so many times now.

She closed that half of her pencil case and opened up the other half where there was an array of colours "Green, Blue, Red, Yellow, Orange, Bla-"

"You don't need colouring pencils" a voice interrupted her.

Judy looked up towards her door and almost let out a groan as she saw who was at the door.

At the door stood Ellie, Judy's most hated sibling. She was the epitome of beauty in a doe. Her fur a smooth hazel brown with white running down her throat. Eyes as blue and enticing as the ocean. Her figure slim, legs smooth and always on show.

"What do you want Ellie?" Judy asked as she looked at Ellie with an unamused look.

Ellie just gave Judy a smirk back as she looked at Judy and her bag full of school supplies "Just watching my goody-goody of a sister get ready for school, even though we still have the weekend until we have to go back to school"

Judy stood from her bed and walked towards Ellie, causing the doe to take a few steps back. When Judy reached the door she quickly shut it in her sister's face and hoped she would get the message.

Thankfully Ellie chose not to disturb Judy anymore and instead walked away.

Judy sat back on her bed and reached out for her pencil case again but stopped when her phone started to ring on her bedside table. Letting out a sigh, Judy reached across her bed and picked up her phone to see who was calling her.

The caller ID had a picture of a smiling black sheep with the name Sharla underneath.

Despite wanting to finish checking if she had everything ready for school, Judy's mood had lightened up. She accepted the call and held the device up to her ear "Hey Sharla" Judy spoke in a cheerful voice.

_"Hey Judes, I've got some news for you"_ Sharla immediately spoke and there was the constant sound of wind in the background making it sound like the sheep was on her bike or anything that would cause her to move at a fast speed.

"Is it good or bad news?" Judy asked, now intrigued and curious about why her friend had called her.

_"We don't know yet"_  was the sheep's response.

Judy was now even more curious. If the news wasn't known as either good or bad then it could mean anything. Absolutely anything and it made guessing what the news was impossible. "So what is the news then?"

_"You remember that buck that left the school at the start of last year?"_  Sharla asked. Judy was even more confused about why he was being brought up but thought that the news was about him.

"The one with stripes on his face? Yeah, I remember him, has he moved back or something?" Judy asked. She remembered the buck, she didn't talk to him much except for a few times during group work in classes but she did remember him being popular with most does in the school and he even had a relationship with Ellie at some point.

_"No, but"_ There was a short pause and Judy was able to respond until Sharla started talking again  _"rumor has it that someone has finally it that a family has moved into the house"_

That had surprised Judy. Surprised her enough that the doe had stopped what she had doing and had to process the information multiple times in her head. There had been a few times where there were rumors about someone moving into the house but each time the deal was never sealed. The more deals that were rumored the less likely it seemed that a family would finally move in the house.

"Really?" was all Judy could respond with.

_"Yep"_ the sheep responded before there was another pause  _"Also, apparently they have a kit that would go to our school in our year as well, so I thought that maybe you would like to come with me and see if this is true or not"_

Judy looked at her school bag as she weighed out the situation. She did want to go with Sharla and see the new kid but she also wanted to make sure that she was ready for school.

Then, her sister's words started to play in her head  _"we still have the weekend until we have to go back to school"_

The weekend would provide her with enough time to be ready. "Yeah sure, I'm up for it, let me get ready and get my bike and I'll meet up with you somewhere"

_"No need, I'm only five minutes away from yours, I'll wait out the front for you"_

* * *

"Hey Gid, you heard the news?" Travis asked the fox to his side. While he had used the foxes name, he was addressed the whole group of mammals he was with.

This group had consisted of Travis, Gideon, Jordan, Alfie, and Declan. They were the group of mammals in BunnyBurrow High that nobody wanted to be on the bad side of. They were cocky and always sat at the back of the school bus that they got on, removing anyone who took the seat, sometimes with force. They were the most misbehaved students and were often in Isolation. They were such a small group due to the majority all having one thing in common. They were all predators, with the exception of Travis.

Jordan was a Lynx. His reddish-brown coat of fur cut short so he wouldn't overheat during the summer. Golden yellow eyes looking at Travis with interest. He had been friends with Gideon for a long time over the internet. The two would play games together until they finally met up with each other in school. He sat on his bike, his black tank top showing off the muscles that he often bragged about and used to his advantage, his jeans a lighter shade of black but baggy towards his ankles.

Alfie was Jordan's brother. They were the only two in their litter and were very close as brothers. Instead of having reddish-brown fur, Alfie preferred to dye his fur to a light silver. His eyes a dull and muddy brown as he too looked at Travis with interest. He had met Gideon through his brother and was considered a close friend to Gideon. He wore a plain white shirt with a thin unzipped jacket over the top and tight blue jeans.

Declan was a small gray wolf. He was one of the smallest wolfs that was born healthy, standing just taller than Gideon. Despite being friends with Gideon and the others around from him, Dec was easily the kindest of the group. There were times where he would be annoying and cocky but that was a rarity. The majority of the time you could have a good conversation with the wolf, no matter if you were predatory or prey. He looked at Travis with less interest. It was not a secret that Dec and Travis didn't get along well, but they put up with each other for the sake of others.

"What news Travis?" Gideon asked in an unamused voice. The fox was currently looking at his phone and refused to tell anyone what he was doing on it.

"Well apparently, some new kits have moved in that house near the school, the one that-"

"The one zebra stripes lived in?" Alfie asked as a grin came on his muzzle.

"Don't you mean fake stripes?" His brother Jordan responded which got the group to start laughing.

Once the laughter died down Travis continued "Yeah that's the one, but anyways, yeah a new kit moved in that house and apparently he's going to be in our year at school as well"

Gideon raised his head from his phone and looked at Travis with a raised eyebrow before repositioning himself on his bike "Well... That's interesting, thank you for the news Trav"

There was a short silence between the group that was broken when Dec leaned forward on his bike, resting his forearms on the handlebar and spoke, looking at each mammal as words left his mouth "Think we should go pay him a visit? Get a look at the new mammals on the block"

His question was met with laughter from those around him. Once everyone had calmed, Gideon looked at Dec with an amused smile on his muzzle "Dec, you spend too much time with the Hopps cop, she's starting to rub off on you"

"I wouldn't put it past her, there's only so long a bunny can remain innocent and pure" Travis spoke as he also repositioned himself on his bike. Now in a position ready to move when needed.

"Especially with a sister like Ellie, I wouldn't put it past her to ask one of us out," Jordan said before leaning over one side of his bike and making noises as if he was being sick, earning him laughs from everyone around him.

Before the laughter could die down, Alfie raised his voice loud enough to be heard "Dec would say yes"

The joke only got everyone laughing even more, included Declan as he laughed at his own expense while shaking his head slowly.

"Nah, he's got his eye on Judy" Jordan joked back with his brother, earning more laughs and a one-fingered gesture from the wolf.

"Let me get something straight," Dec said in a slightly annoyed voice. He knew his friends were joking but the lynx brothers were known for taking things too far. "First off Jordie, I don't find bunnies attractive or any other species attractive besides wolves" The laughter had fully stopped now as they listened to the wolf as he looked directly at the Lynx before moving his eyes along the rest of the mammals "Second, we all know I only see Judy every day because we get the same bus to school, are in the same form and possibly some of the same classes this year"

There was a short silence before Gideon decided to address the wolf "Calm down Dicklan, no need to be so emotional"

There was a short and tense silence as everyone waited for the wolf to react. It was a well know fact that Declan had problems struggling his anger. While he was better than Gideon at controlling it, once his anger reached its peak, you had to be careful of what you said if you didn't want to get in a fight.

The wolf only looked directly at Gideon before giving the fox the same gesture he had given Jordie a few minutes ago.

"We ready to go?" Travis asked, hoping to break the tension between his two friends.

Travis resisted the urge to back away as the wolf directed his gaze to the ferret before nodding his head.

Without another word said, Gideon started to move his bike onto the road before being followed by Travis.

Just as Declan was about to follow after the two, Alfie lightly tapped the wolf on the arm, successfully gaining his attention.

"You know we're only joking," he said simply and let out a quiet sigh a grin spread across the wolf's muzzle

* * *

Once Judy was ready and got her bike out from one of the many barns that were on the family land, Sharla was already out the front of the house playing on her phone while she waited for Judy.

After a long bike ride, the sheep and bunny duo made it to the school. In the small parking area out the front of the school was a few cars that belong to some teachers who must have been spending their last few days making sure that everything was prepared for their classes.

The school itself wasn't that big. It consisted of one main building with a small house like building to the left in front of one of the sub building that held a specific subject. The small building was known as Isolation where kits were sent as punishment to work independently with minimal help.

The sub building behind it was where all the maths lessons took place. There was another similar building behind it that was designated towards teaching a small collection of lessons. One one side of these buildings was the school playground and on the other side was the school field.

The main building of the school taught a variety of subjects, each in different areas. The lessons ranged from English to science to PE among other lessons that were deemed mandatory.

Behind the main building was the third and final sub building, this one dedicated to designing and making different things. These ranged from cooking to woodwork.

It was a thankfully shorter twenty-minute bike ride until they had arrived at the house in question.

There were few folded up boxes to the side of the front door which was left open.

Sharla decided to stay back on the rod while Judy went and talked to the homeowners. From what Judy could see, there were more boxes on the inside along with a few pieces of furniture.

There was the sound of boxes being moved and items being unpacked nearby but there was also the sound of classic rock music coming from further away, Judy had presumed that it was coming from up the stairs.

Raising her hand, Judy lightly knocked on the door but after getting no response for a few seconds, she knocked on the open door again, this time louder.

"Hold on a minute" a calm sounding voice called back.

Judy waited patiently as she couldn't help herself but look into the house.

The basic design was nothing like her own and showed no signs of anything that would give the away the impression that a family with kits were moving in. The only evidence the young doe could pick up on was the different pitches of laughter coming from inside the house.

Judy's attention was stopped from it's wondering as she saw movement coming from one of the doorways. When she saw who was making the movement, her heart had skipped multiple beats.

Walking towards her was an older looking fox dressed in a casual shirt and pants, the foxes tail swishing through the air idly behind her before she crouched down a few spaces in front of the now nervous Judy.

The vixen offered the bunny a smile, unknowingly flashing some of her teeth in the process. "Hello little one, what are you doing here all by yourself?" she questioned in clear voice.

Judy suddenly felt both nervous and embarrassed. Taking a deep breath, Judy summoned the strength to make eye contact with the fox and speak "Actually ma'am, I'm here with my-" the words died on her tongue as she turned around to gesture towards Sharla only to see the space she was waiting in empty and nowhere in sight. Quickly turning back to the fox, Judy continued with what she was saying "I'm here to...to welcome you to BunnyBurrow"

The vixens tail dropped as she heard the bunny talk in a clear and somewhat confident voice "I'm so sorry..." she quickly said as she put her paws up to her muzzle b "I thought you were a lost kit or something". Pulling one of her paws away from her muzzle, the fox offered the paw towards Judy who only flinched slightly but it was unnoticeable "I'm Marian Wilde, pleasure to meet you"

Judy held her paw out as well and shook Marian's, her paw disappearing in hers. "Judy Hopps, pleasure to meet you too". Seeing how sorry the vixens was for what she said, Judy felt more at ease around Marian, knowing that if she was that apologetic over a small mistake than there was next to no chance of harm being brought to her.

"So if you don't mind me asking," Marian started as she stood up to her full height "how did you find out about us moving here?"

"Oh, well when a house has been for sale for almost a year, people find out when it's sold quickly, well those who care do. My friend had told me about it and I decided to come here and see if it's true."

"Really now?" Marian asked, her voice curious over how fast news travels. "Please come in," she said while stepping further into the house.

While Judy trusted the fox in front of her, she was a bit reluctant to enter her home. Slowly walking in, Judy couldn't help but look at the boxes around her.

"I'm sorry but we don't have a lot of space for you to sit down"Marian's voice broke Judy from her observing as the vixen returned with a half-constructed wooden dining chair in her paws, the backrest missing from the cushioned seat. "So, what else have you heard about us?" the fox asked as she set the chair down near Judy.

Judy slowly climbed onto the chair and sat with her legs kicking back and forth through the air idly "Not much, just that a small family has moved into a house" The bunny paused for a second and took a breath before continuing "I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting a family of foxes". The bunny hoped that she hadn't insulted the fox who stood in front of her.

Thankfully, Mariam just smiled "Yeah, we expected that I mean the place is called BunnyBurrow after all"

There was a pause where Judy couldn't help but giggle at the irony of a family of foxes moving to a place where 'Bunny' was in the name.

"But yeah, my son Nicky was having some problems in school so I and his father had managed to get him a place in BunnyBurrow High" Marian continued

"It is a good school," Judy replied with a bit of pride for her hometown in her voice.

There was a short between the bunny and vixen. During which the music coming from up the stairs made enough noise for both to hear.

Marian stood up and looked down at the bunny "I'll go get Nick, maybe the two of you can do something for the day"

Before Judy could respond, Marian was already up the stairs.

* * *

"Well..." John said as he stood up and looked down at the now fully set up bed "I'm glad that's finally done, now to test if it's actually stable"

Before John could sit on the bed, there was a streak of red fur as Nick jumped past his father and landed on his bed.

"It's stable," the younger fox said while sticking his thumb up over his head, his voice muffled from being buried in the mattress he was laying on.

Laughing lightly, John sat down on the bed in front of his son's legs "It's a good thing as well, otherwise you would be lying in a pile of a broken bed"

Nick rolled over and looked up at the plain white ceiling as he shrugged his shoulders before raising his head and looking at his father "Would have been worth it"

There was a knock on the door that brought both foxes attention to it to see Marian. She smiled warmly at both of them before being wrapped in a hug by her husband.

Their lips touched for all of a second before Nick interrupted them "Get a room you two"

John moved and stood beside his wife, his hand around her waist as he held her close, his tail curling around her leg.

Marian looked away from John towards their son as she addressed him "There's someone downstairs for you Nicky"

"Already?" Nick asked as he stood up from his bed and walked past his parents towards the stairs. Stopping halfway to the stairs, he quickly turned back to face his room and called out to his mother "Could we stop with pet name please"

When he placed one of his hind paws onto the first step, a small feeling in his chest started.

It was hard to describe but it felt strangely similar to the feeling he would get when time stopped.

This was different though.

There was no possibility of danger or harm to him. The only possibility being if he fell down the stairs. After a quick investigation of the steps ahead of him, Nick couldn't see anything that would cause him to slip.

Just when he went to take another step he heard his parents talking, something he shouldn't be able to hear if time had stopped.

If Nick was to say he was confused, he would be making a big understatement.

Carefully and slowly walking down the stairs, one step at a time, Nick finally reached the bottom of the stairs. The feeling in his chest now causing small amounts of pain to him.

He walked into the front room where his eyes saw a nervous looking grey bunny. He could tell that they were nervous, despite the fact they were trying to put on an act of confidence. After all, he had learned how to read other mammals from the self-proclaimed master.

The bunny in question had its ears down and was eagerly looking around the room she was in. She stood in front of a half-constructed dining chair that Nick guessed his mother had got for her.

Ignoring the stronger feeling in his chest, Nick cleared his through and smiled as the bunny quickly turned around with a frightened look on her face, her ears now standing tall.

"Like what you see?" Nick asked casually as he waved his arm around his surroundings "I find it a bit empty for my liking but, you have your own personal opinion". He walked the short distance between himself and the bunny, watching as her nose twitched subtly every few seconds. He stuck his paw out and watched as her nose started to twitch more obviously "Names Nick Wilde"

Judy looked at the offered paw before slowly sticking her own out, just like earlier, her paw had shrunk in his but was still visible due to his smaller paw size.

When her paw touched his, the feeling in his chest more than doubled in the small pain it was giving him. He wanted to hold a paw over the spot but resisted and hoped his discomfort wasn't obvious.

"Judy Hopps," she replied, a small smile on her face as she looked up at the fox.

She didn't know why but his calm smile seemed to calm her down, much like his mother's smile did only a few minutes ago. His eyes were enticing to Judy, they almost seemed as if they were glowing in a sea of darkness. She couldn't stop herself from staring into them.

He should have felt uncomfortable with her silent staring. She seemed so interested in his eyes, but Nick was having the same problem with hers. Her purple eyes were a direct contrast to her grey fur and stood out from everything also couldn't help but let his eyes wander over her form a little.

His eyes started to wonder on their own, his surroundings and everything else forgotten about. The only thing that he could feel was the almost pinching like pain in his chest.

Both mammals were stopped from their staring as Judy's phone pinged in her pocket. Cheeks a bright shade of pink and ears down her back from her staring, Judy reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

Nick found her cute like this. Her ears flat against her back and the pink of her blush growing. He was sure that he was blushing as well but he was thankful for his red fur.

She looked up at him with an apologetic and sad smile on her face before she started to speak, her voice slightly shaky "I...I'm sorry but I have to go, mom just texted" she explained before turning her phone around to the fox so he could see the text himself.

After reading the text, Nick brought out his own phone as he assured the doe that the bad timing wasn't a problem. "Don't worry about it Carrots, here hold on," he said before turning his own phone around to face her.

Judy was slightly confused for a second as she looked at the line of numbers on screen before finally understanding what the numbers were. Mentally face-pawing herself as she put the numbers into her contact list.

Judy's phone pinged again as another text from her mother came through. Looking up at the fox again as she had a short internal battle with herself. Forcing herself to come to a conclusion halfway through, Judy quickly leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the fox.

She didn't know how she could go from feeling nervous and scared around someone to hugging them goodbye in less than a minute. It was something about the relaxed and casual smile.

Nick's eyes widened as she hugged him. He wasn't expecting it and could feel how tense she was in the hug. The feeling in his chest now feeling closer to a stabbing feeling. Nick slowly pulled his arms out of her hug and hesitantly rested them on her back.

In reality, it was only a few seconds, but to the bunny and fox, it felt like a lifetime.

Her phone pinging continuously now, Judy pulled back from the fox and offered him a smile before turning around and walking to the door "Talk to you later Nick" she called over her shoulder as she left the house.

"Talk to you later Carrots" Nick called back and watched as she climbed on her bike and started typing away on her phone before she biked off.

Nick couldn't bring himself to do anything. The further away the bunny got, the more the pain in his chest started to fade until it was gone.

He stood on the spot as he recalled over how their first meeting had gone. Sure, it had been awkward as it was mostly filled with silent staring but Nick strangely liked their first meeting.

Slowly going back up the stairs as he thought about her wrapping her arms around him and how tense she had felt during the hug, Nick returned to his parents and helped them decorate his room.

* * *

When Judy had returned home, she was quickly hugged by her mother and father. Judy was confused and only grew even more confused as they started to raise their voices at her. It wasn't until they mentioned talking to foxes that she understood what they were going on about.

Judy tried to explain how she didn't know they were foxes but neither Stu or Bonnie were listening to her.

As her punishment, Judy wasn't allowed to leave her room unless called for something by either her father or mother.

Judy didn't mind though. She still had all of her school stuff to check through after her impromptu journey.

It wasn't until much later in the day, when it officially hit night, Judy had finished checking her school stuff for the third time that Judy unlocked her phone.

She was instantly loaded onto her contacts screen. More importantly, one new contact.

Quickly selecting the option to call the contact. As she listened to the dial ring, she began to question whether or not he would pick up to an unknown number or not. Her thoughts were quickly stopped when the line was picked up and a relaxed voice answered  _"Hello?"_

Voice suddenly caught in her throat, Judy had to clear it a few times before she could form enough words to create a sentence "Hey Nick! It's me Judy!"

_"Hey! It's Carrots!"_  He said in a more animated voice

"Why?" Judy asked simply, leaving the fox on the other end confused

_"Why what Carrots?"_

"Why the nickname?"

_"Ohhh Carrots?"_ Nick asked rhetorically  _"I have Nicknames for everyone, don't ask why I just do"_ The fox continued before pausing. Judy was about to talk but Nick had beat her to it  _"If you don't like it I can change it, let's see there's Fluff, Hippity Hopps, ohhh what about-"_

"No Nick, Just stop their all terrible" Judy responded once she was able to stop her giggling

Nick laughed too before putting on an offended and overdramatic voice  _"Well I could just call you Rabbit or Bunny but they were too simple, I needed something creative"_

"Ohhhh, I get you, Carrots is such a creative nickname for a bunny," Judy said, sarcasm dripping from her voice

Nick couldn't help the smile that grew on his muzzle  _"Sarcastic... I can tell that we are going to be really great friends"_ despite how true the statement was, he decided in favor of a sarcastic tone to deliver it with

"I know right"Judy quickly responded, sarcasm still heavy in her voice. She tried to hold in her laughter but failed and at some point had dropped her phone onto the floor.

Once Judy had calmed down enough to pick up her phone she went right back to talking, an idea of what to say already formed in her head "I've been thinking..."

_"That can't be good"_

"I've been thinking!" Judy repeated louder than previously "If I'm having a nickname, It's only fair if you have one"

Nick remained quiet for a moment as he thought the idea over. During all of his years, he had never had a nickname, the closest thing being when Finnick was annoyed with the young fox and went on a rant that was aimed at Nick.  _"Let's hear what you have in mind then"_

Without a second of hesitation, Judy responded in a cheerful voice "NickName"

_"No"_

"What!? Come on!"

_"No"_

"What's wrong with NickName?" Judy asked as she thought back her laughter.

_"I'm going to go through your thought process for that Nickname and I want you to stop me when it sounds terrible"_ Nick stated as if he was reading a book. Judy could imagine him somewhere with the same smile he had pointed at her earlier in the day.

"Go ahead"

_"So I want to give my friend a nickname"_ Nick started in an overly feminine voice

"I do not sound like that!" Judy cut him off but he only continued with no change in his voice

_"His names Nick and he has a thing for giving others these really cool and imaginative and creative nicknames. I want to give him one just as smart and creative, hmmm let me think, ohhh I got it, I shall nickname my friend Nick, NickName"_

After a short pause, Judy decided to respond in an overly sweet voice "I don't see the problem"

_"You wouldn't"_ There was another pause as Judy's ears picked up another voice coming from further away  _"Hold on a minute Fluff"_

As the foxes end of the line was muted, Judy shook her head and spoke in a whisper to herself "He needs to make his mind up"

_"Hey Fluff, I've got to go, talk to you tomorrow?"_ Judy could pick up o the hope in the foxes voice and while she was disappointed that he had to go, she was more than happy to talk to him again

"Sure, talk to you tomorrow NickName"

_"You better have a better nickname for me tomorrow"_ and with that, Nick had ended the call.

* * *

Placing his phone on his bed, Nick slowly exited his room and headed down the stairs back towards the front door.

Seeing his mother and father still setting stuff up in the front room and not looking like they were going to finish it today, Nick quickly opened the front door and stepped outside so he could talk to his newest visitor in private.

He didn't know what he expected, but what he hadn't expected was to be looking directly into the eyes of another canine.

This one being taller than Nick but not by much.

Nick was so shocked to see another predatory that he missed when a paw was stuck out towards him. The clearing of the predator's throat had made Nick aware of the paw.

"Sorry, didn't expect to see another fox," Nick said as he took the paw that was held out to him "Nick Wilde"

"Declan Howlser, you can call me Dec, and I'm actually not a fox"

"Really?" Nick asked as he looked Dec up and down "Then what are you?"

"I'm actually a really small wolf, don't worry, your not the first person to make that mistake" He informed when he saw Nick's face.

"And here I thought I was going to be the only predator or something," Nick said with a small smile, thankful that there was another predator that was friendly

"There's actually a small group of us that go to BunnyBurrow High"

Nick's smile spread even wider at the information "Cool, might just hang out with you lot if that's alright"

Dec looked Nick up and down for a moment "That's fine with me" he stated before leaning forward and dropping his voice to almost a whisper "If you want my advice, I would avoid my friends as much as you can"

Nick was confused by the wolf's actions. "Why?"

Before responding, Dec looked down at his watch before looking back at Nick "Wish I could say more but I've got to go, don't want my parents worrying about me"

Before Nick could ask the weird wolf any more questions, the wolf in question had already turned around and set off on his bike.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: We're off to school next chapter YAY!


	3. First Day I: The Journey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am also taking a short-ish break, focusing a little more on SSS. Only reason this is being posted now is because I have had this chapter mostly wrote, just had to finish the last line break.

A brown paw of Nick Wilde pressed down on the alarm that was ringing in the small room. The clock read 7:00 meaning the red fox had an hour before he had to leave for school. He quickly jumped out of his bed and made a beeline to the upstairs bathroom where he had started to brush his teeth.

As a nocturnal mammal, Nick was not a big fan of the mornings. Today was different. This was the earliest that Nick had woken up in recent times. The last time Nick was awake this early was when his age was still in single digits. It seemed that ever since the Ranger Scouts incident, Nick had lost all motivation towards school. His grades started to drop and it was noticeable that he was putting in less effort in his work.

Multiple teachers back in Zootopia had let Nick know that he could talk to them off-the-books if anything at home was worrying him. The way the teachers had jumped to conclusions over Nick's behavior had angered him. They never asked if there were any problems at home, instead, they had assumed that there were issues at home.

Nick lived in a normal family. His parents very rarely argued and hen they did, it never lasted long.

But Nick was in a new area now, a fresh start. A mostly clean slate. There was the problem that he was required to talk to a mammal who was trained in anger management, but that was the only setback. Once the four weeks of mandatory anger management classes were finished, Nick would have everything to do with Zootopia behind.

The fox finished brushing his teeth and went back to his room to grab his brush, wanting to look proud and presentable. He knew that he was going to be judged because he was a fox, that was to be expected when you live somewhere where the majority of the population was bunnies, rabbits, and hares.

But there was the exception. Declan, the wolf who had visited him shortly late Friday night had said that there was a small group of predators. While he was pretty sure that there would be no foxes, he liked the idea of not being the only predator. But there was also the problem that Declan had suggested to stay away from them.

The wolf sure had confused Nick.

Not wanting to dampen his mood, Nick put those thoughts at the back of his head and looked at himself in the mirror. Once he was sure that there was no fur sticking out at any angles, Nick grinned confidently at himself and winked at his mirrored reflection before making his way downstairs.

As soon as Nick reached the bottom of the stairs he head into the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal before adding some soy milk and wen to address his mother, who was currently sitting on the couch in the living room.

"Has my jumper and tie arrived yet?"

Marian looked towards her son with a soft smile as she sat eating her own bowl of cereal, her's dry and lacking any milk. "Yeah Nicky, it's a brown package on the kitchen table, at least it should be there unless your father has moved it"

Once his mother finished, the teenage fox looked over his shoulder at the kitchen table. As his mother said, there was a brown package. Picking the package up in one hand, the tod went back upstairs to get changed in the privacy of his bedroom, the rest of his school uniform neatly folded on a swivel chair next to his door.

Stepping into his room, Nick placed his almost finished breakfast down and wasted no time in getting changed. Buttoning up his short sleeved shirt with the exception of the top button, wanting to give off an impression of easy-going casualness. His black pants neither too tight or too baggy, just as the school website had instructed. Nick reached into the package and pulled out the black jumper. Simple in design with the only difference from any other regular black jumper being the school's logo on the left side of his chest. Nick had to admit, he did look like a good combination of ready and eager for school while also appearing casual and calm.

"Woah Woah Woah, stop right there!" Nick said in surprise, his voice a higher volume than anticipated.

"What's wrong sweetie?" his mother responded quickly, worry clear in her voice.

Nick marched out of his room and downstairs and stopped as he almost ran into his parents who were standing at the very bottom.

Looking at their son and seeing that he looked like he did only five minutes ago when he went up and got changed, both John and Marian were confused over their son's miniature outburst. "Whats wrong Champ?" John asked after a few short and silent second.

"This!" Nick said as he raised his hand and showed his parents the normal looking school tie. It wasn't until Nick had moved his hand from the top that the problem became clear "A clip-on Tie?"

Marian couldn't help but chuckle at Nick. She muffled it with her paws but ended up walking back into the living room and holding one of the couch cushions up to her maw to better suppress her chuckling.

Ignore his other, Nick looked right at his father with a disgusted look "I am not even going to entertain the idea of wearing this"

John reached out and placed a paw on Nick's shoulder and turned into his 'humble dad' mode "Come on Nick, don't let this small thing ruin your day, by the time you get to school you would have already forgotten about it"

Seeing that this hadn't fully convinced the teen and that it was quickly approaching time for Nick to leave, John forced himself to pull out the big guns "If you wear it for today, I'll promise I'll have a custom-made tie for you when you get home, completely identical to the schools one"

"Ohhh no you don't Johnathan-"

"Bye Mom, Bye Dad, love you" Nick called out and left as quickly as he could, school bag gripped tightly in one paw as he buttoned the rest of his shirt and attached the clip-on tie, despite how much he didn't want to.

* * *

Judy reached out and quickly silenced the alarm on her phone. Having lived by the same routine ever since she started going to BunnyBurrow High, Judy had actually woken up 10 minutes before her alarm. She took the extra ten minutes of being awake and had a very quick shower before her siblings could start arguing over who would use it next.

She didn't need the shower, it was more of a spur of the moment decision.

Having walked in just before her alarm went off, Judy quickly dried herself and got changed into her school uniform. Picking a short sleeve shirt and plain black trousers. While there wasn't much that Judy could say was bad about BunnyBurrow high, there were the limitations when it came to the uniform. Sure, females had more options since they were allowed to wear a skirt, but there was no second option for boys.

It had been brought up on multiple occasions on how unfair it was, but nothing was ever done about it. That's why Judy didn't wear a skirt. Well, part of the reason. She never saw the point as they were generally used to show off as much fur as possible to bucks, while also reaching the balance of not being told off for it being too short.

Deciding not to put her school jumper on just yet, Judy folded it over her arm and clipped her tie on.

Opening her bedroom door, Judy was greeted with the sight of the usual Hopps morning chaos.

The younger kits running about with smiles on their faces, some chasing after each other and some running around aimlessly.

The older kits complaining about everything that comes to mind: siblings, not getting enough sleep, school, you name it and there would most likely be a Hopps complaining about it.

Judy, however, was among the small group of elder Hopps kits who didn't complain in the mornings.

The few extra minutes seemed to fly by to the bunny. Before she even knew it, Bonnie was already pushing everybunny out of the front door so they could get on the school bus that would take them straight to BBHS.

The younger Hopps still running and chasing each other. The majority of the older siblings engaging in small talk with each other while the remaining isolated themselves by plugging earphones in both of their ears.

"Judy!" A friendly and familiar voice sounded from behind the doe, causing her to turn around and smile as her closest littermate approached.

"Jasmine!" Judy responded as she wrapped her arms around her sister.

To anyone who looked at the two sisters, at first it would appear like an almost perfect reflection. But it didn't take long until the differences were spotted. Where Judy's grey fur was light, Jasmines was more of a dark grey. Where Judy's ears had black tips, Jasmines were plain grey all the way to the top.

The two does remained in the hug for a short while until they both let go "Where were you this morning Judes? You weren't in your room or anywhere to be seen when I got my breakfast and we always get up and do everything at the same time"

"Sorry, Jas, decide to wake up a little early so I didn't have to fight through the chaos to get a warm slice of toast," Judy said which earned a little laugh from Jasmine from the truth of the statement. Despite how fun the Hopps morning chaos could be, it still came with a consequence, the majority of the time being last servings for breakfast.

The two sisters quickly delved into short conversations about what they did during their time away from school.

Despite both bunnies living in the same burrow, they both still preferred to have some time away from one another.

It was never because of an argument or disagreement between the two. It was a simple case of having different friend groups and wanting to spend time with said friends.

"So, how's your new boyfriend?" Jas asked her younger littermate, a small smile on her lips as she asked the question that only seemed to grow in size from Judy's confused look

"Boyfriend?" Judy asked, giving up trying to guess who Jasmine was alluding to. "I told you this before Jas, I'm not-"

"Oh Jude," Jasmine said as she shook her head lightly "I'm talking about the buck you've been talking to over the weekend" Jasmine held a digit to her chin and made a face of thought "What was his name again? Mick? Rick?"

Without realizing what her sister was planning, Judy jumped at the bait "his name is Nick". It wasn't until Judy finished her sentence and saw the satisfied expression on Jas' face that she realized what just happened.

Placing a paw on Judy's shoulder, Jasmine spoke as she shook her head lightly "Ohhh Judy don't be embarrassed, we all have our first loves"

Swiping at the paw on her shoulder, Judy quickly tried to clear the discussion onto the right path so her sister didn't get any ideas. "He's not my boyfriend, he's-"

"There's no point resisting Jude" Jasmine quickly cut off the blushing bunny. "You're already at the pet name stage of the relationship"

"Jasmine!" Judy said a little louder than necessary. Blushing even more as every pair of eyes turned to the two grey bunnies, Judy's ears lowered as she waited for everybunny to return back to what they were doing before.

"Jasmine I've told you this before," Judy spoke as the attention was no longer on the two of them " I have no plans to enter any type of romantic relationship until-"

"Until you become a cop, yes I know, this is the 54th time you have told me this, but-" Jasmine cut Judy off again only for Judy to cut her sister off in return

With a mix of a curious and surprised look on her face, Judy spoke "54th? How do you know the exact number?"Judy asked before her face turned a little suspicious "did you make it up?"

"I am  _really_ good with numbers and have a very good memory" Jasmine stated simply before continuing with what she said before "as I was saying, I know you don't want any romantic relationships until you become a cop  _but..._ life is what happens when we are making plans, you might just meet someone who catches your attention" Jasmine dropped her voice to a whisper as she leaned in closer to Judy "like a certain buck who goes by the name of N-"

"Like you and Adam?" Judy quickly cut in, knowing exactly where Jasmine was going and wanting revenge for earlier

"Judy!" Jasmine responded much like Judy had a few moments ago.

The roles reversed. Judy grinning as Jasmine blushed.

There was silence until a high pitched voice spoke loudly "bus!"

Like any other normal school day, everybunny started moving at once. Pushing and shoving each other so they could increase their chances of getting on the bus first and being able to sit next to their friends.

Judy would lie if she said that she was scared at how rough some of her siblings were being, there was always the possibility of one of them falling into the road and being hit by the bus.

As the bus stopped Judy looked to her right, expecting to see Jasmine still standing next to her. Instead, there was no one there. Looking towards the group of bunnies that were pushing their way through the buses open doors, Judy saw Jasmine as she tried to get through.

Smiling a little as she approached the back of the now almost single-file line of the last few Hopps bunnies.

Smiling at the old goat driver as she stepped on the long bus, Judy couldn't help but let her smile grow as the familiar chaos of one of the BBHS buses greeted her.

Voices screaming at the top of their lungs as every buck and doe told one another about what they did over the break. Judy caught sight of Jasmine, eagerly staring at Adam, a buck who Judy had to admit, did have good looks.

However, Judy's ears dropped a little as she realized that there was nowhere for her to sit. That is except for the back with a friend of Gideon Grey's, Declan Howlser. While anyone could have a conversation with the wolf, it didn't stop bunnies avoiding him like a disease.

This wasn't the first time Judy was in this situation. I had happened every day last academic year. Luckily, Declan was the only predator who used this bus to get to school. Gideon, Travis and the two Lynx twins used the other bus.

Walking down the aisle as the bus slowly started to move, Judy kept her head high, no one giving her any attention.

When Judy reached the back of the bus she stopped in front of the wolf. He was currently sitting in the middle seat, a clear line of sight down the middle of the bus.

Declan raised his head and smiled as he saw the familiar grey doe "Judy!" He said with a smile while moving across the seats, allowing Judy to sit on the other side.

Before Judy took her seat she wrapped her arms around Declan in a friendly hug, one of which the wolf returned. "Declan, It's been so long, how have you been?" Judy asked as she pulled back from the hug and took her seat on one side of the back, Declan taking the other and leaning his back against the window behind him, feet kicked up and looking straight at Judy as she mirrored his position.

"Eh," the wolf replied while shrugging his shoulders "could have been better, could have been worse, didn't really do much if I'm honest"

"You better be honest with me Dec" Judy responded quickly, she opened her mouth to talk more but closed it as she saw a surprised look on the wolf's muzzle "What's wrong?" Judy asked, "Did I forget my tie?" Judy asked before quickly raising a paw and feeling around her collar.

"No your tie is there," Declan replied in a slow voice as he got onto his knees on the seat and moved closer to Judy, a bit closer than what would be considered friendly.

The grey doe was very concerned by her friend, she grew even more concerned when he held a paw up to her forehead before moving it onto her cheek. "What are you-"

"Are you feeling ok Judy?" the wolf cut her off as he moved his paw away with a look that was somehow even more confused than what it was previously.

Pushing the larger grey paw away, Judy looked at the fox sternly "Yes Declan, I'm fine, if anything I should be asking what is wrong with you"

Declan slowly started to lean back and sit back into his seat, still looking questionably at Judy "You called me 'Dec'" he said simply

"So?" Judy almost shouted, feeling even more confused

"You have never called me 'Dec' before," the wolf said in a quiet voice "It was always 'Declan' and nothing else" he went on to clarify "Are you sure you're ok?"

Judy didn't realize but it was true. Even since her first conversation with the wolf a year ago she had never referred to him y anything other than his full birth name. She hadn't even realized that she called the wolf 'Dec', it just came out before Judy could stop it.

The doe wasn't one to give out nicknames, always one to keep formal. The only people she had nicknames for were some of her favorite siblings. Judy had never thought about nicknaming a friend at her school since she saw it as pointless to call someone something different other than their name.

Judy was brought out of her thoughts as a few loud clicks were heard. Raising her head, she realized that Declan was looking at her with concern "You sure you're ok?" he asked again

"Yep! never better" Judy responded after some time "As I was going to say before you decide to play doctor, have you...you know...told your parents yet?"

The wolf's eyes widened. He forgot that he had made the promise to the little doe to tell his parents the secret that he had kept hidden from them, the secret he had kept hidden from everyone, everyone except the doe opposite him who had only found out when his phone fell out of his pocket one time.

Knowing that Judy wouldn't be happy when he tells her that he didn't reveal his secret to his mom and dad, Declan tried to change the conversation "So there's a new kid in our year..."

"You didn't tell them did you"

"No..." the wolf replied hesitantly, almost shaking as he tried to make as much distance between himself and his bunny friend.

Judy let out a sigh as she lowered her head before standing on the seats and walking over to the fox. If anyone was to see the sight it would be comical and humiliating for the wolf.

Declan Howlser, a well known friend of Gideon Greys with a less than clean record when it came to detentions was trying to get away from Judy Hopps.

"You didn't tell Gideon either did you" While it sounded like a question, it was a statement, Judy knew that Declan would love it if Gideon never knew about his secret.

"And become the laughing stock of the school?" Declan responded quickly, still fearing for his life as the smaller grey bunny stopped in front of him.

Judy sighed again and reached her small grey paws out, placing them on each side of Declan's muzzle and made the wolf look straight at her "You need to tell someone Declan"

That was all she said. She didn't hit the wolf for him being stupid, didn't insult him, no. Instead, she had told him the truth.

"When the time is right" the wolf replied quietly after some time in silence.

Judy nodded her head and hugged her friend again. She knew that it was going to be difficult for the wolf to come out and tell the truth but she supported him. She just hoped he knew that.

Declan returned the hug. He wasn't looking forward to the day when the truth would finally be out there, but he knew it was inevitable. He was just happy that he had a friend like Judy who was there to support him.

"In all seriousness though, there actually is a new kid in our year"

* * *

The earlier excitement of his first day was gone.

In its place, was nervousness and pain.

Being nervous was normal for anyone who was having their first day in a new school. They would want to set a good example, make as many friends as possible and find out what teachers are more lenient than others.

But what wasn't normal, was the pain in Nick's chest. While it was only a small pain, it was still noticeable for the teen fox.

The only other time that he had experienced a pain like this was on Friday, when that bunny welcomed him to BunnyBurrow.

Turning his head to look round his surroundings, wondering if Judy lived anywhere near him. After doing multiple spins while still walking and making himself feel a little dizzy, the fox didn't see any sign of the grey bunny.

A little disorientated from his spinning, Nick chose to continue his walk to school, ignoring the pain in his chest as best as he could.

Nick had spent sometime over the weekend talking to the grey bunny. Phone calls, text messages and any other form of communication they could think of.

Judy had become Nick's very first friend in this new place, he hoped that they would remain friends for a long time.

They talked about anything that came to mind and during this whole time, Nick was a little on edge. Unlike how he was during their face-to-face encounter, Nick never felt any type of pain in his chest.

For Nick, the whole weekend was normal. As normal as any other teens.

Not once did the fox mention anything about the strange wolf. He figured that he would see the wolf in school at some point, then he would ask questions.

Putting those thoughts away, Nick pulled out his phone and plugged an earphone in, pressing play on whatever song had been playing last. When he did hear the song, memories from the previous night floated into his head. The memories coming from towards the end of their phone call.

_"Hey Carrots"_

_"Yes, Nickname?"_

_Letting out a sigh, the fox put a paw on his forehead "You still need a better nickname Carrots"_

_"Only when you give me a better nickname, Nickname" Judy had responded back quickly._

_"What is BBHS like?" the fox asked almost out of nowhere_

_There was a moment of silence, before Nick heard a very quiet giggle coming from his phone_

_"Is -Cool-For-Zootopian-School nervous about his first day?"_

_"That better not be your attempt at a new nickname!" Nick responded back quickly, regretting that he mentioned skipping school multiple times in Zootopia_

_"I like it"_

_"Of course you would!"_

The teasing continued for the rest of the call, only stopping when Judy said she was going to sleep. Nick was going to tease the bunny about going to sleep at 9:30 but never got the opportunity as Judy ended the call, probably already knowing what the fox was going to say.

Nick was surprised that his venture into the memories of the night before was long enough so that he was standing right outside the school's front door.

Taking a deep breath, the fox went to reach a paw out and open the door only to stop and grunt a little as the pain in his chest multiplied.

Leaning against the wall for what felt like an hour, breathing heavily with a paw over his chest. The fox remained like this, hoping the pain would subside.

When it was obvious that the pain wasn't going to go away anytime soon, Nick pulled out his phone, seeing that it had only been a minute since he had tried to enter the school.

Taking a few more deep and slightly calmer breaths, Nick reached a paw out and entered the school into a little reception area.

"Ahhh, you must be Nicholas Wilde"

The voice caused said fox to jump a little as he turned his head towards the source.

The fox's eyes widened as he saw an otter standing at two closed double doors.

"Uh, yeah that's me," Nick said a bit unsure "and I would prefer if you just called me Nick"

"My apologies" the otter spoke as he offered a paw out "I am Mr. Rivers, the headteacher of this fine school"

Nick put his own paw out and shook the otters. The pain constant and showing no signs of decreasing in pressure. Trying to control his breathing, Nick took a few steps back, not wanting Mr. Rivers to hear how heavy his breathing was

Mr. Rivers turned around and entered a code into a small keypad that was near the double doors, a click sounding as the code was correct and the doors were unlocked. "Please follow me, Nick"

Without question, the fox walked through the doors that were being held open.

The two predators started walking in silence, Nick looking at all the displays of subjects as he walked past. "I'm really sorry Nick, I would give you a tour myself but I'm afraid I have a meeting to get to very soon, I'm sure we could find a student who would gladly show you around"

The two mammals came to a stop when they reached a classroom door, the small sign saying "E1"

"You head in there and talk to Mrs. Antlerson, she will send someone out to show you around the school" Mr. Rivers said before quickly walking away, leaving the fox alone.

Before Nick entered the room, he took a few steady breaths, the pain in his chest somehow increasing even more. Placing a paw on his chest, Nick closed his eyes and focused on his breathing before turning his attention to the song playing in his earphone.

When he felt ready, he removed the earphone and pocketed it and walked through the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: If it wasn't obvious, the itallics during Nick's walk to school were intended to be the past conversation between him and Judy.


	4. First Day II: Getting Settled

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to take a break to focus more on SSS, but then I thought "Hold on, Nick hasn't even properly started his first day of school and I'm just going to leave it with him entering a room for who knows how long" so I am going to finish this little arc of his first day THEN I will focus on SSS and get up to date.

Walking into the classroom, the fox was met with nothing except loud noise, causing his ears to snap down to his skull from the sudden change in volume.

As expected, the majority of the students in this room were bunnies. Although he didn't know how to tell the difference, Nick was confident in guessing that there was at least one hare in the room.

Having grown up in Zootopia, Nick hadn't had many opportunities to interact with rabbits. Seeing one in the city was rare, but for one to have a conversation with a fox, there were better chances of seeing an elephant in Little Rodentina.

Taking a deep breath and ignoring the pain in his chest, Nick slowly walked up to the teacher's desk at the front of the room.

"Judy, eyes nine o'clock" Delan spoke in a quiet voice.

The doe looked in the direction that the wolf had pointed out, a surprised look adopting her face at the familiar figure she saw.

While Declan had spoken in a quiet voice to his friend, the sensitive hearing of every other bunny in the room picked up on what the wolf said, all turning and looking at the newcomer.

The red fox slowly walking towards the front of the room, stopping in front of the teacher's desk.

The rest of the room broke out into hushed whispers, everyone talking about the new fox that they had never seen before. The only ones who didn't talk were the two at the back of the classroom. One grey bunny and one grey wolf.

Instead, they just sat and watched the fox. Declan with a smile on his face, not having to worry about Nick meeting Gideon just yet. Judy also with a smile, thankful that her new friend wasn't going to be lonely at the start of each day. There was a small part of her in the back of her head that worried. Worried that the fox would be bullied and have no other friends.

The whispers stopped abruptly as the fox turned around and examined the room. His eyes stopping as he saw an empty seat at the back of the room. Nick went to take a step towards the back of the class and take his seat until he saw who else was at the back.

The grey bunny who he had got to know a little over the weekend and who he could comfortably call a friend.

But there was also the face of a wolf who had confused the fox only a few days ago. As Nick approached the seat he examined the smile on the wolf's muzzle, having been taught how to read peoples facial expressions and body language by his friend Finnick. While he was not as good as the fennic, he still had a bit of experience. From what Nick could read from the wolf, there were no bad intentions behind his actions.

Taking the spare seat that was between the two, Nick put his bag on the floor and dropped his voice to a low level as Mrs. Antlerson, a middle-aged deer started calling out names for registration "Fancy meeting you here Carrots"

Lower her voice to a volume level that matched the fox's, Judy smiled as she replied: "It's nice to see you again NickName, still worried about how you will fit in?"

The fox went to reply but was stopped when a new voice joined the conversation "So you're the reason Judy is no longer Miss Formal"

Nick turned around and looked quizzically at the wolf and was about to ask for an explanation but Declan started before he could ask "Judy never called anyone by a nickname or anything, always used their full first name, until today"

"I called you Dec, so what?" Judy asked trying to not make a big deal about the slip of her tongue earlier that day.

"Judy" Mrs. Antlersons voice called out causing Judy to raise her voice in answer to the teacher.

"Here Mrs," Judy responded the same as she always did to registration. A cheerful tone that showed how excited she was for the day to start.

"Declan"

"Yep" came Declan's usual response to his name being called. A clear contrast to Judy's. His was laid back and bored sounding, if Nick hadn't had a conversation with the wolf just a few seconds earlier, he would have thought the wolf wanted the day to end already.

"Sounding a bit bored there Hybrid, am I boring you already?" Nick asked in the same low voice as before.

"Hybrid?" both Declan and Judy asked the fox at the same.

"That's my own personal nickname for Declan here, after all, it does have to be creative and original" Nick explained

"It is better than Dicklan so I'm not complaining" the wolf paused as the fox next to him let out a few chuckles that were barely suppressed by the paws over his muzzle "why Hybrid?" Dec had asked once the fox was finished laughing.

"Why not just call him Dec?" Judy questioned from the other side of Nick

Nick just shrugged his shoulders before leaning back in his seat "Too easy to call him Dec and too popular, Hybrid because I haven't seen your parents and given your height, it is possible that one of your parents is a fox"

The three of them went into silence. Judy had never thought about there being any reason behind Declan's small height and she had never seen a picture of his parents so she knew just as much about her friends secretly being a hybrid as Nick.

Declan opened his mouth to respond to this new theory but was cut off by the voice of Mrs. Antlerson finishing registration with a new name "Nicholas"

"Just Nick is fine Mrs" the fox responded in a casual voice.

Just like when he had walked in, the whole room delved into hushed whispers, talking about the fox and not wanting to be heard.

"So, what Nickname have you given Judy?" Declan asked, wanting to know just how creative the fox could be with nicknames.

"That doesn't matt-" Judy tried to interject and save herself from the embarrassment.

"Well, there's a few," Nick said to the wolf, ignoring the bunny that had tried to dismiss the topic "There's Carrots, Fluff, Hippity Hopps, Easter-"

"Easter?"

"It's a long story and we don't have time" Judy tried to steer the conversation away but was once again ignored by the two canids.

Nick went to explain the reason behind one of the bunny's nicknames but stopped when he saw the teacher stand up and walk towards the back of the class.

Mrs. Antlerson stopping in front of their table and looked the three mammals over, stopping at the wolf "Come on Declan, perk up a bit, it's the first day of school!" she said, causing a small smile to form on Judy's muzzle, knowing that this was a very normal interaction between Declan and his general studies teacher. "Why can't you be excited for school like Judy?" the teacher continued, gesturing towards the smiling doe.

The wolf looked up at his teacher, a very tired and bored look on his face, very different to how he looked when talking to Judy and Nick a few moments ago. "Because it's school" came his curt response causing the deer to frown a little.

The deer turned her attention towards the smiling bunny and fox, Nick looking at the wolf weirdly, not understanding why his attitude changed whenever he talked to the teacher.

"Judy, do you think you could give Nick a tour of the school, we still have 30 minutes until first lesson since it's the first day"

"Sure thing Mrs. Antlerson" Judy responded with no hesitation, getting out of her chair and walking the short distance towards the classroom door before turning around "Come on Nick"

Nick slowly got out of his seat and walked towards the classroom door, walking out with Judy but stopping to look back at the ever so confusing wolf one last time before the door closed.

"Don't mind him" Judy's voice spoke from behind the fox "He has a reputation to keep intact" this time her voice a bit less chipper as she looked back towards the closed door. The next sentence she spoke came out less cheerful than it was meant to "Come on NickName, let me show you around so you can be better acquainted"

It was clear to the fox that the bunny was affected by the wolf's actions more than she let on. Nick didn't know if the doe herself knew how much she was affected, but Nick would have to be blind to not see how much the bunny was affected.

Nick didn't know if there was anything between the bunny and wolf. From the way they talked to each other, it was clear that they had conversations with each other a lot. Beyond that, Nick didn't know if there was anything more between the two.

The bunny proceeded to guide the fox around the school, naming each room and it's purpose, crossing between each sub building and reciting some of the school's history. Going up each set of stairs and saying what rooms would be at the top and what teacher was stationed in what room.

Nick would have been surprised if A: he knew that Judy had been in this school for 4 years of her life and B: if the numbing pain in his chest hadn't returned.

He didn't know if the pain had been present the whole time and he had just distracted himself with the conversation and the surprise of seeing his two best friends or if his pain had gone, only to return.

Nick was actually interested in the history of the school and of course, he wanted to know where he would have to go for each subject but the pain in his chest made it especially difficult for him to focus on what his tour guide was saying.

* * *

"So NickName, that's the tour of BBHS, hope you enjoyed it and I am very thankful that you saved any and all questions until the end" Judy spoke in a monotonous voice, very close to that of a PA system.

Nick couldn't help but laugh, throughout the entire tour the bunny had spoken cheerfully and greeted passing teachers only to end it sounding like a machine, Nick didn't know why it made him laugh so much, but he was thankful as even for the short few seconds that he had laughed, the pain in his chest disappeared before returning to a very small and thankfully manageable level.

"Yeah I have a question," Nick said slowly, unsure if the speed he talked at affected the pain in his chest "I am expected to attend some type of anger management meeting at some point, how do I know I'm meant to be there and where I'm meant to go?"

It was apart of the agreement between the school and the Wilde family. If Nick wanted to attend BBHS, he would have to attend an anger management meeting once a week. The meetings would end when students return from the half-term break unless the school believed the fox still needed it.

The idea wasn't very appealing for Nick. Having to talk about himself to someone he didn't know and didn't plan to know beyond their meeting. But the fox promised his parents that he would at least give it a try.

The bunny looked at him confused for a second, not understanding why the fox would need anger management "You would be called out of class and requested to go upstairs of the Independent Learning Building, the small building behind the maths block"

The fox nodded his head in response before shrugging his shoulders at the look the bunny was giving him "That's all of my questions"

"Ok, let's get back to Mrs. Antlerson then, we still have," The bunny spoke as he paws reached into her pocket, pulling out her phone and turning it on to look at the time "20 minutes until First Lesson starts"

With the fox in tow, Judy started to walk back to the classroom they had started at. While the two were quiet, Judy's mind was the opposite.

The bunny's mind was racing. Trying to think why her friend would need anger management. From what she knew, the fox was kicked out of school for skipping too many days. But now, the bunny was confident that her friend was hiding the truth.

"Hey, Carrots," the fox spoke up, the doe looking up at him with a small smile and a questioning look "I got another question for you"

"What is it?" Judy asked back, turning around and facing the fox while continuing to walk down the hall, preparing herself to answer whatever question the fox would have.

Nick watched the bunny for a second, the pain in his chest growing even more. Taking a few quiet deep breaths, Nick answered the question that had been in the back of his head since they had left the classroom and started the tour. "Earlier you said that Dec had a reputation to keep," he paused, watching as the bunny still looked at him, expecting him to continue "What did you mean by that?"

"Oh" was the doe's response, her ears lowering and laying against her back, head lowered a little, feet moving on auto-pilot without her even realizing. "Well, Declan is...uhhh, how best to put this?" The doe questioned herself and closed her eyes to think of a response in her head. "Well, he's-WOAH"

The bunny was cut off, her feet tripping over an empty crisp packet that was thrown onto the floor. She didn't even know that she was still moving, her mind focused on trying to think why Nick would have been kicked out of school in Zootopia and why he would need anger management. Her mind distracted even more when she tried to think of the best possible way to describe her wolf friend's situation. She closed her eyes and braced for the inevitable, one paw on the back of her head in order to protect her head as much as possible from any serious injury.

For Nick, he wasn't aware but time had stopped. All movements except his frozen. He was too focused to realize. His paws shooting out to catch his falling friend. One paw catching the bunny's paw that was flailing in the air as she fell, his other paw wrapping around her waist as much as it could. His body a lot closer to her's as he used his strength to stop her fall.

When the doe felt herself stop falling without the thump of her head on the floor, she slowly opened her eyes. Seeing her friend's muzzle very close to her. Noses practically touching. He was breathing slightly heavier than usual. Judy stared into the foxes eyes, the emerald green almost glowing, Judy mentally shook her head, having been too entranced by the cool green of the fox's eyes. Judy moved her head to look at her body, only now realizing what type of situation they were in and how they would look to others.

Their paws locked in the air above their heads, his paw wrapped around her waist, his muzzle close to her's, his body very close to her and him standing over her. Almost looking as if they just finished a dance and held a pose for applause.

The fox seemed to realize as well, quickly bringing his head back and helping the doe back to her feet. His chest feeling as if it were caving in on him.

Blushing heavily, Judy lowered her head "Thank you" she spoke in a low quiet voice

"Don't worry about it" Nick responded quickly, his own blush hidden by his red fur.

The two remained standing. Looking in any direction other than towards the other. To say that the situation was awkward for the two teens would have been an understatement. They were both thankful that no one else was there to see how they were positioned.

Looking at the rubbish that the bunny had tripped on, the fox distracted himself and walked over to it, picking the packet up and walking towards the nearest trash bin, no more than 10 steps away.

"So... What were you going to say?" Nick asked, desperately trying to get past the awkwardness and back into a normal conversation.

Smiling weakly at the fox as he returned back from the trash bin, Judy started to walk again, this time looking where she was going. "Declan has a reputation that he doesn't want to get hurt. He's friends with some...questionable mammals" Judy chose her words carefully, not wanting to offend the wolf even though he wouldn't hear her "He gives off this attitude of being 'too cool for school' when he's with these mammals, not wanting to lose his friendship with them" The doe spoke calmly, but much like earlier, Nick could tell that the doe was affected more than she was letting off.

"Is that why his attitude kept changing earlier?" Nick asked, confident that he knew the answer but wanting to make sure.

The bunny nodded her head slowly "Yeah, he doesn't want anyone seeing what he is really like, he thinks it would ruin his reputation" The bunny paused again, this time stopping in her tracks as she realized they were just down the hall from being back in her classroom. "Listen, Nick, I don't want to come off as intimidating when I say this, think yourself lucky that you saw how Declan interacts with me, that's the real him, he's friends with me in secret, your the only one who knows that there is a friendship between us. He's a nice guy, just caught up with the wrong crowd"

The fox listened closely to the bunny, taking in every word she said, learning more about the wolf than he thought he would from the bunny.

"Don't tell him I told you about this, it's up to him if he wants to let you know all this, don't tell any other mammal about this, while I may not like how he acts, I'm his friend and it was hard enough for him to fit in, I'm sure if someone found out about his secret, he would be right back down to square one, please just, don't tell anyone anything ok?" Her voice sounded desperate, while Nick didn't understand the whole situation, he didn't want to make life any more difficult for his fellow predator.

"I promise Carrots" the fox responded quietly. The bunny turned back around and started walking back to the classroom but stopped as her ears jumped up as the fox continued to speak "What secret though, I'm sure being friends with you wouldn't make everybunny hate him, if anything more people would like him if they see a bunny getting along with him"

The doe remained frozen on the spot. Nick was about to ask his question again but the bunny turned and looked at him again, speaking at a fast speed as she walked backward again.

"Nothing, forget I said anything, well, not anything, just forget about that secret part, just don't tell anyone about his friendship with me" the bunny stopped, realizing that she had walked past the door and was almost in the reception area. Moving back to the door again, Judy put her hand on the handle and opened the door "Come on Nick" she said before sliding back into the classroom, the fox barely catching the door before it closed on him.


	5. First Day III: Lessons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feels like it's been forever since the last chapter, BUT I have my reasons! To make it short, I haven't exactly been in the best position when it came to my health and as a result, I haven't had a creative urge to write. All my time where I was in the mood to write was dedicated to different projects that I'm a part of since the deadlines are fast approaching, this chapter and any of the other works that I release in the near future may feel lackluster and that it could have been better. I'm sorry if this chapter doesn't meet your standards, but I feel I need to get something out, not just for the readers, but so I don't reach the point where I have no idea what has happened.

"So what lesson do you have first Nick?" Judy asked as the fox returned back to their table with his timetable in paw, only five minutes left until the first lesson started.

Unfolding the piece of paper, the fox looked at it quizzically, a confused look on his face. "I'm not really sure Carrots" he replied in a slow voice.

Reaching a paw out slowly, heart still beating a little faster than usual over how close she came to spilling her friends secret and the position she had been caught by the fox in. The doe took the paper, the tod willingly letting go and allowing the rabbit to look it over as he took his seat. The wolf from earlier missing. When Judy asked where he was, the teacher had responded that he had been sent out for disturbing others. Judy knew that wasn't completely true. While Declan may have been sent out, it was never an official sending out, Mrs. Antlerson having a small soft spot for the wolf because of how much work he produced for General Studies.

"English language and literature in E1 with Mrs. Antlerson, same as me" Judy spoke after only looking at the paper for no more than a couple seconds.

Snatching the piece of paper back, the fox stared wide-eyed at it, trying to figure out where Judy had gotten the information from. "...How did you?..."

"It's simple, look," the bunny said as she pulled out her own timetable that was placed in her seat for when the duo had returned from their tour. Her piece of paper set in the same format, two separate tables, both being five columns down and three rows across, each square filled in with a lesson, room, and teacher. "Since it's the first week back, we are on lesson format one, obviously on a Monday so if you go to the top table and find Monday and go across, you can find out what lessons you have"

Nick slowly nodded at the bunnies explanation "I'm guessing next week is lesson format two" he said as he pointed a claw at the bottom table. Receiving a quick nod of the head from the bunny next to him. "I'm also guessing that Options A, B, and C are all to do with my GCSE's".

Again the bunny nodded her head before abruptly stopping and looking at the fox, she opened her mouth to talk but was silenced before she could say anything. Her ears snapping down as an overhead bell rang, signaling the end of General Studies and telling students to head to the first lesson of the day. Even Nick, a fox whose ears were less sensitive than the bunnies and rabbits around him, had to lower his ears at the loud bell.

He didn't realize it but much like earlier, for a very short moment, time stopped. By the time Nick had raised his head to look back over the room, all movement was back to normal, as if nothing ever happened.

Slowly raising her ears again, the bunny looked back at Nick, surprised at how fast his own ears seemed to jump back up. Putting it asides as fox's ears weren't as sensitive, Judy opened her mouth and spoke to the fox in a louder than necessary voice as everybunny around them all rose from their seats and started moving "You don't have your GCSE options picked do you?"

"No?" Nick asked in return, sounding like a question in its self until he spoke in a more affirmative voice "No I haven't but," he said as he raised a claw "I have spent time looking at the lessons I could choose and I know what ones I want to pick"

"Good because we are about to get that sorted" Judy said as she stood up and picked her bag up before quickly walking towards Mrs. Antlersons front desk, leaving behind the fox as he stood with his mouth open as he was about to protest but wasn't able to say anything.

As each bunny left the room, they all looked at the fox, different levels of fear and disgust on their face as they walked past.

Before Nick was even able to turn back towards where his friend was, her voice was already heard right next to him "Come on NickName, Mrs. Antlerson is letting us have some time to get that sorted out for you"

"Carrots it's fine, I can just get it sorted tomorrow before first lesson," Nick said as he slowly stood from his chair.

"No you can't, got an option lesson after English and they need time to make tutours aware that they will be getting an extra student" Judy respond, shutting down the fox's protest.

Deciding it would be easier to just go with the bunny, Nick picked up his own bag and exited out of class, following behind the bunny.

* * *

"So Nick, what lessons did you choose?" Judy asked as the red fox exited the small office

Looking down at the bunny, a small smile crept up Nick's face. During the whole talk with the careers advisor mammal, the fox worried about not being able to find his way back to class.

Walking beside the bunny as they made their way down the corridor, Nick paid attention to ever turn they made, his chest not hurting at the moment so he took advantage of it, mentally making a map of the school in his head.

He was so distracted with his mapping of the school that he didn't hear the question the bunny had asked him, nor had he heard her when she repeated it. The fox only realized that the bunny was trying to talk to him was when she had pulled on the hem of his shirt.

"Are you ok Nick?" Her voice was soft, concern evident as she looked the fox in the eyes, trying to look for a sign of lying. Having grown up with more than two-hundred siblings, Judy had experience when it came to detecting a lie.

Slowly placing his paw over the rabbit's, Nick removed her paw from his shirt and let her paw drop to her side. "I'm fine Carrots" Nick spoke as he put his paws in his pockets. "What was your question?"

Detecting no signs of a lie, Judy let out a quiet sigh, unsure why the fox seemed so distant after he left the office "I was wondering what lessons you chose"

"Drama, Theory PE and Business" he replied nonchalantly

"Oh" was the doe's only response, causing the fox to look down at her with curiosity and something else in his eyes. Judy didn't know what it was, but it played with her heart to see such a sad look in his eyes.

"Oh?" Nick asked with a raised brow.

Judy stopped in her tracks, the two mammals having returned back to the room they were supposed to be in, but neither of them made a move to open the door and enter the classroom. "I... I just... Didn't see you as someone who would take those subjects"

She looked up at the tod, hoping that he wasn't offended by her words. She let out a very quiet and thankful sigh as the previous look in the teen's eyes faded and a smirk grew on his muzzle "Well Carrots, I'm full of surprises".

Judy smiled and nodded her head, before reaching out to the door handle "We should really get back in there, before Mrs. Antlerson starts freaking out".

With a nod from the fox, they both walked into the room, the small amount of noise that was being made in the room stopped as everyone turned to look at who was walking into class, everybunny stunned into silence as the newest predator walked in.

The grey doe ignored the muted bunnies and proceeded to walk to the front of the classroom, taking a seat on the chair where her writing book had been placed, an empty seat next to her with a new writing book placed there. A smile grew on her lips as she realized who she would be sitting next to now.

Nick was still standing at the door, his chest starting to hurt again as he looked across the room, not realizing that Judy had moved to her seat. He was doing his best to maintain a face of calm in his situation, but he felt himself slowly losing the mask as the pain slowly grew more and more.

The fox was shook out of his silent state as the teacher addressed him directly from the opposite end of the classroom, "Ahh, Nick, there you are," she said as she stood up and started to walk towards the empty seat next to his bunny friend, "It wouldn't be a problem for you to sit next to Judy would it?"

"No, that won't be a problem Mrs." he answered as he approached the front of the room.

* * *

The lesson went by just as Nick had hoped.

He was able to sit down and get straight to work without having to be filled in about the topics they were learning about. While there were whispers through the entire lesson, the fox ignored them all in favor of keeping his head down and taking in every word Mrs. Antlerson spoke.

He stayed quiet throughout the lesson, only talking when doing work. He only spoke to the grey doe to his right, the only thing on his left being the wall. Their conversations ranged from on task and about the lesson to completely off task and irrelevant.

_"So Carrots, What options did you pick?"_

_"I'm trying to get my work done Nick"_

_"All we have to do is copy two sentences that are on the board, not write an essay"_

_"I'm just making sure I know what everything means when I look back on it in the future"_

_"Carrots, what options did you pick? It's a simple question"_

_"Fine, Drama, Theory PE, and History"_

When the overhead bell rang to signal the end of the lesson (both fox and rabbit ears snapping against their skull in surprise) Mrs. Antlerson had requested to have a quick chat with the two.

She had asked if they were comfortable around each other and if Judy was fine to help Nick, settle in on a more permanent basis, stating that it would be possible to find someone else to take over.

Nick and Judy nodded their heads, both assuring their tutor that they were perfectly comfortable with each other and wouldn't mind continuing to be around each other.

Judy blushed as she recalled their first meeting. Their impromptu hug in the main room of the tod's new home. While Judy was a very friendly and physical mammal, like most bunnies, she had never hugged a random stranger before, always getting to know someone before getting too comfortable around them. Her mother and father had taught her early on about 'Stranger Danger' and how she shouldn't trust people she doesn't know.

But now, she was unintentionally throwing that out the window.

Not only had she walked into a stranger's home, only knowing the name of one of the occupants, but she had also hugged one of them. It wasn't a friendly hug either, it seemed to drag on but in a good way for the bunny. Judy didn't know why, but when the fox had returned the hug, she felt completely safe. She trusted a mammal she knew nothing about and still did as she realized she knew very little about the fox. Didn't know if he had any siblings, what hobbies he was interested in, what his dream job was, where in the city he had lived before, she knew next to nothing about him.

"You ok Carrots?" the tod next to her asked, unsure why she had been so quiet since they had left the classroom.

Looking up at the fox, Judy ignored the blush that had spread up her ears and cheeks as she remembered how it felt to be hugged by the fox "Yeah, I'm fine, just-"

"Judy!"

Turning around, the doe in question looked for who had cut her off. Smiling as she saw the two sheep siblings that had always been friends with the bunny for as long as she could remember.

"Sharla!" Judy replied as she gave the black sheep a short hug, doing the same to Gareth.

The pain returned to the fox as he watched the friends greet each other. A very small feeling inside of him making him want to step in front of the bunny and pull her away. He ignored the feeling, however, not knowing where it had come from and not wanting to look stupid in the process.

The pain seemed to disappear as Judy turned and introduced him to her friends, "Sharla, Gareth, This is NickName NickName, this Sharla, and Gareth Woolson"

Rolling his eyes, the vulpine held his paw out towards the two sheep. Gareth hesitantly reached his hoof out, shaking the fox's paw, Sharla following after him. "It's nice to meet you two, ignore my dear bunny friend here with her, oh so terrible nicknames," he spoke, earning a gentle punch to the arm from the doe "my name is actually Nick Wilde"

* * *

At the back of the playground, Gideon, Declan, Travis, Jordan, and Alfie stood in a circle, laughing as Jordan told a story.

"There is no way that happened!" The lynx's brother accused him.

"Yes, it did!" Jordan replied quickly

"So you're telling me," Declan started, not believing what the feline was saying "The one time you decided to stay at home, rather than go outside with us for some late night banter, your parents hired a babysitter for a fourteen-year-old"

Jordan nodded his head before responding with a "yep!"

"And this babysitter decided to strip herself of all clothes in front of you and try to seduce you" Travis finished for the wolf.

Jordan responding with another nod "Yep, bunnies are a horny bunch"

"I call bullshit" Gideon butted into the conversation.

"Call it whatever you want" Jordan answered the fox before addressing the whole group "I swear it happened"

Alfie took hold of his bag and unzipped it before digging around in it, smiling as his paw ran over what he was looking for.

Pulling out a pre-rolled cigarette and lighter, he turned to look across the playground, smiling even more as he noticed the distance between a teacher and their huddle.

Turning back around, the lynx lit his cigarette before speaking "that story is just as true as me never touching a cigarette in my life," his response earning a few chuckles.

While none of them were saints, Alfie was easily the least behaved out of all of them. Despite his young age, he had already broken a lot of laws and could easily be locked up. Shoplifting, underage smoking, assault, ignoring age limits on explicit videos and video games, among others.

His brother, while a troublemaker, was not as bad. While he never took an item from a store, he acted as a distraction so his brother could get away. He didn't smoke as much as Alfie, he never turned down when the hung out with each other.

None of them ever did. They always accepted the offer, even if they were reluctant to do so.

Much was the case with Declan and Travis. Neither of them was a fan of it, but they took apart in order to blend in. Travis being more eager to do so, being the only prey in the group, he felt that he needed to do more to blend in with his fellow peers.

But right now, it was too risky to play a game of pass the cigarette. It was risky enough with Alfie being the only one smoking, if he was caught he would be excluded from the school, the others being punished as well due to association with the lynx.

The group delved into silence, the only noise being their breathing and shuffling of their paws.

Declan pulled his phone out his pocket as he felt it vibrate against his legs. He smiled and let out a chuckle as he saw the new text he had received.

_"You better be staying out of trouble Declan!"_ The text had come from Judy, or as she was on his contacts list, 'Future Cop'. She always sent him a text similar to that everytime he was with his friends during their time off school.

He never complained though. He liked how much she obviously cared for him, her texts being a reminder to watch what he did otherwise he would end up on the other end of a punch, or even multiple punches from the bunny.

The wolf went to slide his phone into his pocket again only to stop as it vibrated again, this time a text coming from an unknown number.  _"Do as the bunny says! She packs a strong punch!"_

Again, the canine chuckled, being able to make a good guess on who the new contact was.  _"What did you do? Judy doesn't just punch people for no reason"._ As he waited for the answer, the wolf added the number to his contacts. Spending more time than was necessary tying to come up with a creative nickname. He knew the fox would have his contact name be "Hybrid" and he needed something that was just as good. Needed a nickname that summed the fox up in a single word.

A lightbulb lit in his head as Declan finally figured out a name for Nick. He quickly entered it in and just as he finished he gained a new text from 'Foxy Fox'

"Someones popular" Gideon piped up as he heard the phone vibrate for the third time in a short few moments.

"It's just my parents Gid" The wolf responded quickly, having used that excuse a few times when he was caught having a conversation with Judy over text.

"We've heard that a million times outside of school, there is no way your parents care that much about you" Alfie spoke as he pulled the cigarette away from his muzzle.

"Yeah, especially not your father" Travis decided to jump in at the wrong time.

Declan quickly turned on his paws and stood right in front of the ferret, his height making him appear more intimidating towards the smaller mammal. His fangs bared as he growled lowly, muzzle only inches away from Travis "Say another thing about my father again, I dare you" he spat out.

Travis trying to take a few steps back and create some distance between himself and the angered predator. He didn't make it very far. Within ten steps, his back was pressed against the fence at the back of the school playground.

If Declan was any more provoked he would cause serious harm to the prey in front of him. It would take some time before a member of staff realized what was happening, then they would have to travel across the playground towards the back, having to pass students who would be trying to watch the fight. During all this time, Declan would be able to do whatever he wanted Travis. Non of the predators around them would step in between them, especially if it meant the wolf would turn his rage on them.

"Calm down buddy, it was just a joke" Travis squeaked out, shaking if fear as the wolf stared him down.

"It's just a joke?" Declan repeated, the ferret getting ready to defend himself if the wolf got physical "Well I don't find a joke about my personal home life very fucking funny".

He tried to avoid using vulgar language as much as possible, his filter was always lost in his rage. Swears were used much more often compared to when the wolf was having a civil discussion.

"Do any of you find it funny?" the wolf spoke up as he turned around and looked at the predators, Travis still in the corner of his vision, making sure he didn't try to do anything funny.

They all stayed quiet, not daring to say anything. Not even Alfie, who was often referred to as the muscle of the group, dared to open his muzzle.

Declan turned back to Travis and dropped his voice to an intimidating whisper, the predators behind him having difficulty hearing what he was saying. "If you ever think about saying anything about my family again, don't pass it off as a joke. Grow a pair of balls and say it to my face like you mean it" he let out a low growl as he finished before slowly backing up and continuing in a clearer voice "Do I make myself clear, _Ferret_?" he asked, adding emphasis on how he referred to the mammal in front of him.

Travis nodded his head. Without another word, Declan back away and pulled his phone out and went back to his texts. Looking for a way to calm himself down and not do anything he would regret in the future.

There was a heavy awkward silence between the mammals.

Only after a minute passed did anyone say anything. "So... We know it isn't your parents," Alfie started, getting ready to take a step back when the canine glared at him "so who is it?"

Not wanting to spend any more time near the mammals, Dec came up with an answer on the spot and started to walk away. "If it gets you all to shut the fuck up then I'll tell you, it's my partner"

With the wolf gone, the group was silent again, until Travis spoke up "The nerve on that guy, I would knock him down to the floor with one punch"

"I'd be careful Travis, you don't want him to get Miss. ZPD to arrest you" Gideon joked, laughter and chuckles filling the quiet atmosphere.

"Probably isn't even talking to a woman, gay bastard" Travis continued

"Probably isn't even another Wolf, disgusting inters"

"Nah, he's talking to the bunny cop, he's going report you for your crimes"

The group continued to laugh at their friend's expense. Almost missing the bell when it rang for the second lesson.

* * *

For his first-day of school, everything was going well for Nick. Even when he didn't have Judy at his side during his second lesson, he was able to ignore the whispers and get his work done.

He stood outside one of the many computer rooms, having just finished his first lesson of Business Studies. The lesson had been a perfect combination of fun and easy for the fox.

The class was tasked with creating a plan for a small business and determine how a budget plan, what would be sold, who it would be sold to among other information.

Nick was able to breeze through the lesson, his small experience hustling on the streets with Finnick gave him an advantage over the bunnies in his class. He based his business on a small hustle he had tried before with Finnick.

The hustle was too ambitious for them to achieve. Nick and Finnick planned to dress as father and son to hustle someone into buying them a jumbo-pop from an elephant ice cream parlor. They would then melt the jumbo-pop into small pawpsicles and sell them off to lemming. Finally, using the sticks, they would deliver them to Little Rodentia.

Sadly, they didn't get very far, no one paid attention to the two foxes in the parlor, they stayed and begged customers to pay for the small fox's birthday present but no one gave in.

When he had converted it into a smart business plan and handed it into the teacher, he was pleased with himself when he was praised for his hard work and being able to come up with a smart plan.

That was the past though, now, Nick was standing in the spot he had agreed to meet Judy and her friends at for lunch.

Despite the awkward start, he was able to interact with Sharla and her brother and held a conversation with them through the break between first and second lesson. At least until they said they had to be somewhere and quickly walked off.

"Nick!" a very familiar voice called. Nick didn't even have to look up to see who it was.

"Carrots!" he said as he straightened himself and took a few steps towards her.

She stopped in front of her and seemed to be having a debate with herself. Nick was about to speak up and ask what was wrong, but he stopped as the doe in front of him wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a quick hug.

Much like the first time, the hug was very warm and comfortable for the bunny. She felt safe, and she didn't want to leave. She didn't want to risk anyone getting the wrong idea so she slowly broke the hug and smiled at the tod as she took a seat on a bench nearby, placing her bag on the table as she started to pull her lunch out.

Nick sat next to her, placing his bag at his feet.

Judy pulled a lettuce, carrot and tomato sandwich out of her lunch bag and was about to take a bit when she looked at the mammal next to her. "Where's your lunch?" she asked, confused as to why the fox wasn't about to dig into his own food.

"I forgot to pack it," Nick replied with a shrug, leaning on a paw to look at the bunny next to him.

"Oh," Judy responded before placing her sandwich down and started looking at what else was packed in her lunch, trying to find something to offer the fox that he would enjoy "See anything ya' fancy?" Judy asked as she turned her lunchbox towards the fox.

Nick shook his head, not even looking down to see what there was, "I'm fine, Carrots, you go back to eating your carrot sandwich and whatever else is in there"

Judy took a bit out of her food, munching on it before addressing her friend again, "Are you sure, I got some blueberries that I don't really eat"

The fox's eyes widened at the mention of his favorite fruit. "I can't say no to blueberries". He took the offered bag of blue fruit and quickly popped one into his mouth, moaning as it touched his tongue "These are amazing!" he said between popping more berries in his mouth "Nothing like the ones in Zootopia"

Judy smiled proudly, pleasantly surprised to hear that her families produce was better than what could be found in the big city. "That's because they're from my family farm, fresh and everything, not like anything you would see in your corner shop".

The two stayed in silence as they ate, Nick happily eating the blue fruit, giving off a small whine as he realized there was none left. When Judy had finished, she stood on the bench and packed her lunch away. Not once had either Sharla or Gareth come over to sit next to them like they had said they would do early.

Judy pulled her phone out and frowned as she saw a text from Sharla.  _"Sorry, Gareth and I have to miss lunch, we didn't understand the work that was given out in the lesson and are asking Sir for help"_. It was obvious it was a lie. It annoyed Judy because Sharla wasn't willing to put away her fear of foxes and give Nick a chance.

"What's wrong Carrots?" Nick asked as he stood up and slung his bag over his shoulders.

"Nothing," Judy said simply, picking her own bag up Turning to the fox, Judy spoke before he could question her anymore "Do you want to go sit on the field?"

"Sure, I could do with as much time outside as possible, it was  _wayyy_ too hot in Business"

"How was that? Were you fine without me?" Judy asked as they started to walk on the field, they didn't know where they were going to sit but they were fine to walk until they found somewhere nice.

"Could have been better, could have been worse," was the fox's response as he scanned for somewhere to sit, keeping his muzzle at a low angle to avoid any direct sunlight hitting his sensitive eyes.

The two were silent as they continued to walk. Stopping as they reached the far corner where a tree was standing tall, provide a huge amount of shade for the fox and bunny to sit in.

They both sat down, backs pressed against the trunk, legs out straight in front of them.

"Say Carrots, I got a few questions" Nick spoke out of nowhere, looking up at the sky, sun behind them so he didn't have to worry about his eyes too much.

Judy looked at him and gave him a signal that said 'go on'.

"How did everyone know I was here before the second lesson of the day?"

Judy couldn't help but smile a little as she looked across the field, bunnies all running after each other, some playing pawball, some doing what they were doing, sitting down and talking. "It's a school full of bunnies Nick, word spread fast"

As Judy looked over the field, she paid attention to other bunnies sitting like them. She blushed as she realized that every other couple who was sitting was a romantic couple. Judy had even spotted her sister Jasmine sitting very close to Adam, the buck she had a crush on since she had first laid eyes on him, but she never had the courage to ask him out.

"Next question," Nick said as he nodded his head "Is it normal for bunnies to be good at multiplying?"

She blushed even more at his question, quickly moving her gaze from the bunnies who were kissing and closing her eyes as she lowered her head. "Well, bunnies have uhhmm... Very big families" Judy spoke slowly, never confident when it came to talking about serious matters like mating. She found it even more awkward as she was explaining it to a boy that she had been very close to despite their short friendship. They had spoken over the phone and through texts during the whole of Saturday and most of Sunday, only being interrupted when Judy had to do work on the farm.

Nick's eyes opened and he looked at the doe before laughing loudly, holding his side as he fell to his left. "That's- That's not what I meant Fluff!" he said between laughs, slowly pulling back up. He seemed to calm down and looked over to his friend only to start laughing again, "New nickname, Tomato because you're as red as one right now!" he teased.

Judy kept her eyes shut, her ears drooping low as she held her head in her paws, muttering to herself as she shook her head.

Once the fox had calmed down, he sat back up "I meant, are bunnies good at multiplying as in Maths, as in the subject, not mat-"

"I get it!" Judy cut the fox off, Nick laughing even more as Judy tried to avoid saying anything about her mistake. "Yes, it's very common for bunnies to be good with multiplication when it comes to numbers" the doe chose her words carefully, not wanting the fox to twist her words.

"Are you good at multiplying?" the canine asked with a chuckle.

The doe shook her head at how immature the tod was being "Yes I am good with multiplication, I'm top set maths after all"

Nick looked at Judy for a second before reaching into his pocket and pulling his phone out an opening his calculator app "Ok Carrots, 2643 X 20?" he entered the sum into his phone and barely pressed the equals sign before the bunny answered

"Easy, 52860"

Nick nodded his head, surprised at how fast the doe had figured the answer out "Name more than five digits of PI"

"What does PI have to do with multiplication?" Judy asked as she looked sideways at the fox

"I just want to know how good your memory is"

Judy let out a sigh before closing her eyes, taking her time before answering "3.1415, need me to continue?"

The tod shook his head, he went to ask another question but stopped as Judy's phone started to vibrate in her pocket.

The doe reached into her pocket and pulled the device out, confused why Declan would be calling her right now. "Hey Declan!" she answered cheerfully "Why are you calling now? Are you not with Gideon and the rest of your friends?"

_"Good joke Judy, no I'm not"_ came the wolf's response, there was no noise in the background, making the bunny question where her friend was that was so quiet  _"Listen, can I talk to you after school?"_

Judy was surprised why the wolf would request such a thing. He never asked to talk to her, instead, he always sent a text and they would delve into a small conversation "Yeah sure, how would you like to do it?"

There was a pause in the call, the wolf taking his time to think of how to respond,  _"Muzzletime?"_ he asked.

"Ok, start the call when you get home and we'll talk then"

_"Thank you Judy"_ Declan responded before ending the call.

"What was that for?" Nick asked, ignoring the rising pain in his chest, not understanding why it was decided to return at this moment.

Judy went to respond but stopped as the bell rang, signaling student to get to their third and final lesson of the day. "It was Declan, he was just wondering if he could have a talk with me after school" the doe responded as she stood up and picked her bag up. Nick doing the same as the silently walked to their classrooms.

The closer Nick got to enter his class, the more his chest picked up in pain, he didn't know why but he really wished he did.

The hall in the Maths building was empty, most students already in their lesson. Before Judy and Nick departed, the bunny gave the fox a quick hug, knowing that this is the last time they would see each other face to face for the day.

Nick didn't have time to return the hug, too focused on his pain. By the time he registered the bunny hugging him, she had already let go and was in her classroom.

Shaking his head and taking a few deep breaths, Nick opened the door and walked in.

"You must be Nick," a hare in a suit addressed him before the fox had a chance to close the door, the fox nodding his head "Could you go sit on the table in front of Declan please," he said and walked back to his desk.

The tod smiled a little, thankful that there would be someone he knew and who he could talk to. He easily spotted the small wolf and headed towards the row of desks in front of him. He was surprised when he saw another fox sitting next to the wolf, along with two lynx's on the other side of the fox.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just going to put this here and most likely at the end of every chapter involving these characters. I do not condone any behavior that Gideon, Declan, Jordan, Tavis or Alfie participate in, especially for people at their age. Just because I write it, doesn't mean that their views are mine or that I agree with what they say.


	6. Update

Right, well, I'm not going to beat around the bush with this. Before I get started, yes, this is an A/N chapter and not an actual story chapter, and yes, I am aware this is a violation and I will piss off a certain group but . . . Meh.

Important stuff is important!

First: If you follow/favorite me or all of my fics I would like to apologies for the sudden spam of all my fics being updated (at least the main ones) since they are going to be the same thing.

Second, I have said this on an A03 comment recently but it's better to have it more public and out there so more people know what has gone on with me.

But lets just get straight into it.

As you may of noticed, I haven't updated any of my fics in a while. This is not due to a lack of interest. I still want to write these . . . Or at least FS . . . Stereotypes is just . . . Bleh! Terrible piece, no idea what kind of drugs I was on when I wrote that thing but they were not the good kind. Back to the point of this. I still want to write, my life is just very occupied. I have very little free time and even less coming up because of school starting again. I'm in my last year of English high school and as such will have to take my GCSE's (English equivalent to Finals for all you Americans) so that is a pretty big deal that I should be dedicating as much time to as possible. But with school starting up soon, it has also sucked my motivation out to do anything so you probably won't get much for me if I continued writing . . . Whoops, spoilers. I also had a bad experience with someone who killed my motivation to write for some time.

But yes, I am, and have been for a while, retired from writing. Whether this is permanent or temporary, I do not know. Should I of announced this earlier? Yes, yes I should and I am sorry for leaving you all waiting for so long . . . All 5 of you that care. I am still writing though, just not for any of my fics. They are mostly pieces of fluff for my boyfriend (yeah, that happened too . . . somehow) or friends I have met in this fandom. None of this will be posted. The fics that are posted are not abandoned, but discontinued.

Let me repeat that.

The fics that are posted are not abandoned, but discontinued.

I honestly don't know what else there is to say here . . . I really don't know how to word this . . . But I'm trying. Before I wrap this up, I would like to give out a few thank yous.

First to Cimar Of Turalis/WildeHopps for being my inspiration to start writing and for helping me get to know more people in this fandom and even letting me participate in What If even though my piece was never completed.

The same kind of thank you can be given out to the likes of DrekkDeina, Zanrok, BlueLighthouse, Fox in the hen house, Midnightopheliac, Those Other Things (Boys like you just returned! Wooo!), and so many other big and small names that played a part in getting me to write.

A thank you to Skeali (which will be strange to anyone who knows what went down) for being one of the first close friends I made in this fandom

AnsemD for just being a great friend and trying to help revive my writing groove . . . And bugging me endlessly to read Two Of A Kind, there you go buddy, got a plug in for you! And again, I give you permission to continue SF without me and will publish any chapters you send my way on here.

Ande883 for being another close friend I made in this fandom, not sure if you will see this buddy but I wish you well.

To Ake'cheta Knoton for offering me advice when I needed it the most.

To Gabriel (TheNightManager) A: for the amazing artwork he did for me, would highly recommend checking him out on DA, there you go, you got a plug too and B: being another close friend I made in this fandom . . . And for allowing me to try and destroy your fragile heterosexuality

To Irual for other to proof read and beta a fic of mine I never published due to complications.

Yet another strange one, to Akanomi1/FluffProvider82 for offering just an ear to listen to m mumbles back in the earlier days of when I joined

And more recently to Praxus and S1n1st3rS0ul/F0xxo for being as close as family to me and always trying to help me no mater how many times I fuck up (it's a lot)

I'm very sure there are plenty of names I am missing, AoenFeral, LapisLucius42, Soel, OnceNeverTwiceAlways, LanceWhitney/CaptainPrice79, SnowFox, and many, many, many, many more. But I am still yet to give out the biggest thank you.

And in a totally non-predictable result:

I would like to say a big thank you to anyone who even bothered to click a link to one of my fics, even if they didn't read it. This whole community is great and the very few bad are very outweighed by the overwhelming good. I would never of met these names listed above if it wasn't for the readers, even if I was very, very, very rusty in the early days, I feel like I have grown as a writer along with you guys, so thank you.

I will still be around, none of my stories will be deleted despite how much I want to delete Stereotypes. If you do wish to contact me, you can always shoot me a DM on here and I will respond as soon as possible. Or! I, always being one to d things in an interesting way that will most likely backfire, am going to do this. The best way to contact me is through Discord. I am on there very regularly and will respond to all messages on there.

So here is that move I will probably end up regretting. If you wish to contact me on Discord: TW14#6357

And because it is now almost 6AM and I still haven't had any sleep, I'm going to finish off here before my rambling continues.

Hmm, I never had a personal way to end my A/Ns . . . I guess there is a first time for everything so . . . I'll think of something, think it is good but regret it as soon as I publish this.

. . .

After many long minutes of not getting any idea of how to personally end my A/Ns, I'm just going to do it like this

-TW14


End file.
